Fraser Minten extension another indication of new era of player contracts
A promising young player has signed a big-ticket contract, spelling a change of the times in the NHL.
On Tuesday, the Boston Bruins signed forward Fraser Minten to a seven-year contract extension, with an AAV of $7.4 million. During the span of the deal, which will carry from 2027-28 through 2033-34, it will pay him an astounding $50.4 million.
Minten is certainly projected to become a notable player in the league, and clearly the Bruins think highly of him. However, paying him over $7 million after a (career-best) 35 points this past season seems to be a head-scratcher to some. That said, teams across the NHL have become more and more willing to lock up young talent for the long term, even before they’ve visibly matured into a star player.
On this week’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton discuss how Minten’s new deal is just part of the new age of contract negotiations in the league.
Tyler Yaremchuk: This is another kind of flashing light of, like, this is the new-age NHL. A guy who’s played one full season in the league and put up under half a point per game is getting $7.2 million per year, over $50 million guaranteed on a long term deal.
Carter Hutton: I think this is a factor of the Bruins seeing him as a guy that can be a top-two center for most of this contract. If he becomes a 55-, 65-point player and a matchup player that’s responsible and plays well, because [GM Don] Sweeney has talked about that, then this deal looks unbelievable at $7.2 million as he plays into that contract.
It’s a gamble, right? I think that is the biggest question mark here we’re seeing now in this new age of trying to get ahead of it, just like we talked about the Anaheim Ducks. … The Montreal Canadiens are feeling that sense right now, they have all these long-term deals at good numbers. ‘We’re signing on that potential.’ I think for Fraser Minten, he’s obviously shown that. The way I think of it is, in an organization like Boston, who is so cultured and so important in the way they play, who had a Patrice Bergeron and had to play the game the right way. This is obviously something that they feel. This isn’t like an uncalculated decision, but at the end of the day, his growth on the rink is going to really play a factor.
You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…
